Nintendo Wii U owners may have to suffer a rather odd inconvenience when keeping the GamePad accessory charged up, as the touchscreen controller needs AC power to run. Better make room for an outlet.

As Coffee With Games notes (via My Nintendo News) both the Wii U console and the GamePad come with AC adapators, which prompted them to talk to Nintendo. Although the Wii U Deluxe Edition comes with a charging dock for the GamePad, what isn’t clear is whether the GamePad can charge itself by being connected directly to one of the Wii’s four USB ports.

Coffee With Games asked Nintendo directly, but didn’t have much luck coming up with an answer:

So to be thorough and to clarify my original question, I sent over a follow-up question. I asked, “Does the Charging Cradle require an AC outlet, or can it be plugged into a USB port on the system? The only picture of the Deluxe System items shows the cable requires an AC outlet, no cable directly for a USB port.”

Nintendo then responded with, “We don’t have any information to share at this time.”

That’s a curious detail that hasn’t really been dealt with, especially since Eurogamer confirmed earlier this summer that the Wii U GamePad has three to five hours of battery life on a single charge.

If the controller only works off of AC power, that means you’ll need to be careful to consistently have it plugged between gaming sessions. Although that may not be an issue for most, the need to take up an extra outlet can be a bit of a problem for people who already have extremely crowded entertainment centers with limited power strips.

Nintendo Wii U owners may have to suffer a rather odd inconvenience when keeping the GamePad accessory charged up, as the touchscreen controller needs AC power to run. Better make room for an outlet.

Nintendo Wii U owners may have to suffer a rather odd inconvenience when keeping the GamePad accessory charged up, as the touchscreen controller needs AC power to run. Better make room for an outlet.

As Coffee With Games notes (via My Nintendo News) both the Wii U console and the GamePad come with AC adapators, which prompted them to talk to Nintendo. Although the Wii U Deluxe Edition comes with a charging dock for the GamePad, what isn’t clear is whether the GamePad can charge itself by being connected directly to one of the Wii’s four USB ports.

Coffee With Games asked Nintendo directly, but didn’t have much luck coming up with an answer:

So to be thorough and to clarify my original question, I sent over a follow-up question. I asked, “Does the Charging Cradle require an AC outlet, or can it be plugged into a USB port on the system? The only picture of the Deluxe System items shows the cable requires an AC outlet, no cable directly for a USB port.”

Nintendo then responded with, “We don’t have any information to share at this time.”

That’s a curious detail that hasn’t really been dealt with, especially since Eurogamer confirmed earlier this summer that the Wii U GamePad has three to five hours of battery life on a single charge.

If the controller only works off of AC power, that means you’ll need to be careful to consistently have it plugged between gaming sessions. Although that may not be an issue for most, the need to take up an extra outlet can be a bit of a problem for people who already have extremely crowded entertainment centers with limited power strips.